The Old Chestnut - Laptop Drivers!

Bryan Cheer

Newbie

Posts: 12

Loc: Plymouth, Devon, UK.

3+ Months Ago

I have a Packard Bell laptop which I am preparing as a present for a friend. Unfortunately the hard drive had to be replaced and although it seems to be working well now,with xp, some of the mainboard drivers have been difficult to find. The final one is being an absolute blighter. It is for the internal modem, which appears to be an LE-PCT. There is another 'unknown device' in the hardware manager which obviously has a problem, and may be linked to the modem because when I load a likely driver for the modem state no longer says, 'driver not installed', it says,'device cannot start'.
So I'm thinking I need to fix the 'unknown device'. Then perhaps the modem will start. But how.
Is it possible to acquire a repair CD for the P-B Easynote M5255? I expect that would have all the drivers on it? Any help from forum experts would be much appreciated. Thank you!

GT500Shlby

Guru

Posts: 1205

Loc: Philadelphia, PA

3+ Months Ago

Packard Bell is still in business? Wow...

http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/ ... 501&g=2000

That's the download site for that laptop, but it seems that they don't know what "drivers" are.

Bryan Cheer

Newbie

Posts: 12

Loc: Plymouth, Devon, UK.

3+ Months Ago

Thank you Guru,
I have visited the P-B site before and, like you, have not been impressed by what is on offer. They don't give much away (and why should they?), but what is more annoying, they don't even offer what I need at a commercial rate. I suppose they know their business, and what pays etc. I will revisit and browse their forum. There may be some information there that could help.

In the meantime, I'm thinking of going to eBay to see if I can obtain a recovery CD. Have you had experience using such a CD? I have an inkling that it will tell me that the change of hard drive means it can't do the job.

You and other readers might wonder why I am trying to fix this internal dial up modem, in this age of external modems and ADSL broadband. Well, the laptop is going with a friend to Egypt, and he will not be able to go broadband in his family's home, due to the cost, so it will have to be dial up, and an internal modem would be better if it can be arranged. And anyway, I'm not going down without a fight! I would like to see a clean sheet in the hardware device manager.

Thanks again for your reply.
Regards,
Bryan Cheer.

GT500Shlby

Guru

Posts: 1205

Loc: Philadelphia, PA

3+ Months Ago

Yeah Packard Bell's business tactics are probably one reason why they are no longer in business in the US.

PB support forums should have someone on them that has a copy of the files they can send to you.

Bryan Cheer

Newbie

Posts: 12

Loc: Plymouth, Devon, UK.

3+ Months Ago

Thanks Dennis, I'll go there and let you know how I get on.
Regards,

Bryan Cheer

Newbie

Posts: 12

Loc: Plymouth, Devon, UK.

3+ Months Ago

Update:
I went to PB Forum, but did not find any answers there. Thanks for the tip anyway.

Then a friend advised me to try the System Information facility in Accessories to make sure I had the right modem in mind. (I had used other programmes to analyse the system, but not the one in XP itself.) It told me that the modem is in fact a Smart Link not the LE-PCT that I had been led to believe. I had no trouble finding the appropriate driver, and that meant most devices in the hardware device manager were catered for. The ony one outstanding being an 'unknown device', which it described as 'ACPI\MTC0001\etc'.

HOWEVER... when I tried to use the modem to ring out, apparently the port is being used by another device, and I am to shut down that programme and try again! No joy along that route either.

The laptop had to go to Egypt, so I took the expeditious measure of fitting a PC-Card modem which works fine. I'm ashamed of myself, but I had to admit defeat, and next time I work on a laptop, I will safeguard the device drivers like the crown jewels.

Last word: Thanks for all the help and support from Ozzu members.

GT500Shlby

Guru

Posts: 1205

Loc: Philadelphia, PA

3+ Months Ago

Or just don't use Packard Bell... Go with a company that supplies drivers for its machines.